The Publicity Stunt

3. Chapter Two

Brianna Waters sits on the couch of her tour bus staring at the flood of reports of Easton Duffy”s cheating popping up on her phone. Her rep has been busy handling nothing but phone calls from various news outlets asking for comments, and she can”t stop staring at the continuing alerts.

Easton hasn”t even called her. No apology or even an attempt at an explanation. As far as she was aware, they were in a committed relationship for the past year and a half. Or, as it turns out, she was. The timing couldn’t be any worse because she goes on tour in two weeks, and her failed relationship is all anyone talks about. The fact Bri Waters got cheated on will overshadow her music and this tour.

Her best friend, Tessa Chambers, hurries onto the bus and sits down next to her. ”They almost didn”t let me in! Your new security guy almost got beaten within an inch of his life when he tried to say I couldn”t come on the bus. Good thing Bobby showed up and let me through.”

”How could he do this?” Bri asks, tears streaming down her face.

”I never liked him,” she says, her arms wrapping around Bri.

The two have been friends ever since the fourth grade, and Tessa”s the only real friend Bri”s ever known. The only one she can say she has. Being in the industry starting at such a young age, it”s impossible to trust people and let them in. Sure, it”s easy to make friends, but most only want something from her. Clout, a duet, connections, or investments. Tessa”s the only one who has only ever asked for concert tickets to support her. Something Bri is more than happy to give her.

”That doesn”t really help,” she says, sniffling and folds herself into Tessa”s larger body.

Tessa could be a model who stands half a foot taller than Bri. Even more when she wears sky-high heels, and Bri feels even smaller than normal. Bri may be the ”pop sensation” of the moment, but Tessa has and always will have a confidence Bri never will.

With long blonde hair and even longer legs, Tessa just captivates the attention of everyone she meets. If she had any real desire to be in the spotlight, she”d dominate whatever industry she chose. Bri often channels Tessa and imitates her when she”s on the red carpet. It”s the only way she gets through the endless photos and questions when she”d rather curl up and hide.

”I”m sorry, babe. I wish he was here right now. I”d throat punch him before kicking him square in the dick.”

The image makes Bri chuckle, and she remembers yet one more reason why she loves Tessa. ”I”d pay to see that.”

”Oh, you wouldn”t need to pay. I”ll do that for free. Just for you!”

”I don”t understand why he couldn”t just call and break up with me like a normal person. Why did he have to humiliate me like this?”

Tessa”s brown eyes look down into her blue ones, the only physical feature anyone has ever said Bri has over her best friend. ”Hunny, that boy has never been normal.”

She”s right. Easton”s what people would call eccentric, but that was what she liked about him. Kind of. Just about everything about him contrasted with her, and she felt they balanced each other out. That he helped bring out the side of her that stays hidden most of the time while she grounded him a little bit.

Easton performed in a boy band for a couple of years before deciding he wanted to go solo. He”s a newer country star, and she thought they worked well together. For the most part. Who”s she kidding? He always wanted bigger things. Things she had, but he wanted. And she knows he resented her a little for it.

Her phone chimes, and she groans. ”Wow.”

”What?”

”Asshole.”

”Did he think we were still together after everything that happened?” Bri asks and laughs through her tears. ”Or did he just want to be the one to end things?”

”Probably that one,” Tessa says. ”God, he”s such a loser.”

Nia Hess, the head of Bri”s PR team, walks onto the bus and sits at the table across from the couch with an audible sigh of exhaustion. Her short skirt showcases long, lean legs, and she wears high heels with such a skinny heel Bri struggles to understand how she manages to always look like she glides everywhere. With everyone around her, she can”t help but feel frumpy. Two hot, tall models with killer legs surround her at every turn.

”It”s going to be okay, sweetie,” Nia says.

”I just don”t understand what happened. I mean, we weren”t in love, but I thought we at least had a mutual respect for each other.”

Nia narrows her hazel eyes. ”If you didn”t love him, then why the tears?”

She stares in awe. How can she, out of everyone, not understand? ”He humiliated me! I can”t show my face in public again.”

”Well, unfortunately, that”s not an option. Your tour starts in two weeks in Texas, remember? You can only hide until then.”

”You”re not upset he cheated?” Tessa asks and pulls back. ”Just that he got caught?”

Shrugging, Bri sighs. ”It doesn”t feel great, but I don”t really care that much. That sounds terrible, I know, but if he hadn”t gotten caught by the paparazzi and just told me, I probably wouldn”t be that upset. We rarely spent time together between the studio and touring, but I would”ve at least appreciated a heads up before he was caught with his pants down. Literally.”

”Literally would be if he had pants around his ankles in the pictures. Dude was dead ass naked in a pool with Johanna McDaniels. Why... I still don”t quite understand.”

”You”ll get through this, sweetie,” Nia says and pats her leg before standing and staring at her phone as yet another call comes through. She”s definitely earning her salary this week as she walks to the bedroom area and answers. “Nia Hess.”

”I don”t really have a choice. Why did he have to do this right before the tour? Couldn”t he have done this months ago? Gotten caught and then let it die down before I hit the road?”

Tessa squeezes her arm. ”I may hate the guy, but I don”t think he planned this. He”s an impulsive guy, but I can”t say Johanna doesn”t seem like the calculated type to do it. But that”s what I still don”t get. Why her? It”s not like she can boost his career like having you on his arm did. You”re the hottest artist out there, and this is the only reason everyone knows her name.”

Bri rolls her eyes. ”Whatever.”

”I”m serious! What can this woman do for him? Even the tabloids talk about how not special she is. The role she”s famous for, and I use the word famous loosely here, is being sexy dead extra number forty-seven or something in a straight to streaming slasher movie. At this point, she might be better off starting an online porn presence.”

”She can”t,” Nia says, walking back over to them. ”She refuses to sign with anyone but top tier agencies, which is why she lacks representation, and the people she wants to work with refuse to work with anyone affiliated with the porn industry. Website versus porn studio, it doesn”t matter.”

”Maybe he loves her,” Bri suggests.

”Doubtful.”

”You”re too optimistic, babe,” Tessa says.

She sighs and takes a deep breath. ”What am I going to do, Tee?”

”You”re going to pick yourself up, and you”re going to show everyone who the hell you are.”

”And who am I exactly? Besides a humiliated artist needing to face the public as she goes on tour.”

”You are Brianna Waters, hottest artist out there performing to sold out arenas. Easton who? The man who has initials that stand for erectile dysfunction? Yeah, we”re not shedding tears over him. You”re better off without him.”

”Way better,” Nia agrees. ”I never put the initials together like that. That”s actually kind of funny. Oh, for crying out loud.”

Bri can”t help but laugh as Nia walks back into the bedroom. The man wasn”t blessed with great initials, and Tessa would point it out. ”I knew you”d cheer me up.”

”We”ll go out, just the two of us, because we have to remind you that you”re hot. Hotter than Easton could ever dream of having again, and they”ll forget all about Erectile Dysfunction and B-list.”

”I don”t know if I want to go anywhere.”

Standing, Tessa yanks her up. ”Sure, you do! To quote Pitch Perfect 3, we”ll get tarted up.”

Tessa loves the entire Pitch Perfect franchise, and she will use almost any excuse to quote it whenever possible. Bri likes it, too, because who doesn”t love Anna Kendrick, but she”s not anywhere near the same level as Tessa. Not even close.

”Tarted up, huh?”

”Yes. We”ll hit the town, eat amazing food, drink amazing drinks, make sure to hydrate so we don”t make complete fools of ourselves, and give the tabloids a shot of you not giving a flying fuck about ED.”

”And just where do you suppose we go? We don”t have reservations anywhere.”

She scoffs. ”You”re Bri Waters. You”ll get in anywhere you want to, but if you get too fancy, we”ll have to go Dutch. I”m on a budget.”

Like she”d ever let Tessa pay for anything in the places she wines and dines. As much as she loves Tessa, Bri knows the woman has very little financial sense. In fact, she”s currently in the hole for an undisclosed amount after she took out a loan for a boyfriend who ran out on her and left her to make the payments.

The woman is far too proud to let Bri help, which is why she”s never told Bri the amount of the loan, but she wishes Tessa would let her help with money. Being the best friend of Bri Waters isn”t the easiest thing in the world, but she”s always there for her. The only person who”s ever stuck around through both the good and the bad. And she always finds a way to be there during the bad. Most people bolt when it’s no longer all glamour and fun.

Bri has no family she can count on after they disowned her when she refused to let them profit off of her any longer. Tessa and her team are the only family she has, and she would do anything for them. Especially Tessa.

”What do you say?” Tessa asks.

Nia walks back in and slumps down on the couch while furiously typing on her phone. ”I”m tempted to send a bill to Easton for all these calls I”m fielding. The little prick really can”t look beyond the moment, can he?”

”No, no, he can”t. It”s why his reps loved me with him. I grounded him a little, as they put it,” Bri says. ”We need a favor.”

”Now? Today?” she jokes. “Of all days?”

”Can you get us into a hot restaurant tonight? Tessa thinks we should go out and show the world I”m just fine.”

Her eyes light up. ”That”s a great idea! Get ahead of the headlines saying you”re depressed and wallowing following the scandal. We”ll make them wonder if you had broken up before this happened, which would take away the life of the story. I can spin this. I can totally spin this.”

”Any chance we can start the trend of calling Easton erectile dysfunction? It”s really a missed opportunity by the media,” Tessa says. ”Especially since he”s proven he”s got small-dick energy.”

Nia laughs. ”I can”t, but if you want to make a comment when you”re out, I can”t stop you. And I know just the place to get in at. There”s a new restaurant that just opened, and they”re always looking for big names to increase the publicity even more. The head chef and owner, Carrie, will bend over backwards for you, Bri. Tessa, this is a great idea.”

”Tee, please don”t make any comment to anyone about calling him ED. I don”t want it to make me look petty, and I really want to try and keep a relatively decent reputation. At least going into the tour. I don”t have much of a window to save face.”

Tessa sighs dramatically. ”Fine! But we can still get tarted up, right?”

”Pitch Perfect?” Nia asks.

Bri laughs. She knows her best friend almost as well as Bri does. ”Yes, and yes.”